Do Rappers Rhym.... In the Grocery Checkout?

Hello lady, can you take my cash
feelin like a flash as I get my
Organic vegetables, and my rice oh my
feelin fine where's my change gotta fly............

Ok so I know that would never make it past the billboard top 40 (Worse Failures Ever) and is likely something you would hear from 50cent's dimwitted cousin 2 pence. But I digress...

My thoughts for today are about who we are as individuals. Who am I at home, who am I at work, who am I when I work with clients, who am I when I am ministering to someone in pain? As I have spent the last week on this "Allergy Elimination" diet, I have noticed quite a few things......

1. Who I am is a constant
2. How I respond to my surroundings isn't

I think that in our development as individuals, something along the way gets skewed.... at some point we start to believe and act as though our response to situations is "Who" we are.

If a baseball player always strikes out at bat, sooner or later he will most likely feel like a failure... is he? Maybe at the time in baseball... but not in everything... What if he never practices, or in his practice he chooses to do the same things the same way and never addresses the problem of why he keeps striking out? Sounds sort of insane by me! What if that batter changes and for one hit, hits the ball out of the park.... Did the ball player change as a person? Did his surroundings change? I'm sure at that point everyone would treat him a bit different, including himself.

So what does this mean for me? as everything changes it is important to know who I am through it all. My personal convictions should be that ... personal convictions... those shouldn't change depending on the situation. My attitude toward others... that shouldn't change when I am at checkout or when I am at a party, or when I am at a funeral.... At least not for me... since I genuinely like people... I should like them everywhere I go (Yes I know that there are times when the situation calls for a Louisville slugger to the forehead... but you know what I mean)

In the words of the immortal "The Who" ..........

Who Are you? I really want to know!

Everything Changes

This morning, I received one of the most difficult messages I have ever received... I found out that I have pretty much every food allergy possible...
As I received this information, I went through all of the normal reactions, but when it was done... it hit me

Everything Changes

I don't mean that in a way most people say it.... like .... well, what do you expect...

I mean that like... This is an adventure, always has been. This is another step in the life God has granted to me. I am kind of excited... for a long time I have battled a number of health conditions, one of them eczema... and everyone has always said... "Nothing you can do about it... just have to deal with it the best you can"

Think about that... I have spent my life hearing from everyone around my.... this is the way it is... you can't change it... nothing is going to change

How dis-heartening... I am more excited now that I have been in years because... Everything Changes!!! I have the opportunity to change allot of things that I had been frustrated about for so long. How often to we get those kind of opportunities?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a bit scared in the amount of changes that I am going to have to make in one shot, and I know that is going to be real hard work for me for quite a while...

But...

This is an opportunity of a life time--- correction... an opportunity for Life!

Defining Moments

9-11 I don't know of anyone who doesn't know the significance of this date. Even if you think it was a huge conspiracy, a plot-against-the "White Folks" if you will, this date is still very significant.

I was sitting at breakfast this am, thinking about 9-11-01. I remember sitting in my parents living room, watching on the TV as the second plane crashed into the tower (live mind you) and as I was watching, I was thinking back to when I saw the Challenger Space Shuttle Explode Live on TV. - Defining Moments...

As those were both defining moments in my life, I started to contemplate other moments...
The first time I rode a bike, the moment which I "received" my call into ministry, the first crush i had, the first time I drove out of the state by myself... My years at seminary, the first time I kissed Eliza, first "Official" date, our wedding..... and the list goes on and on and on....

This is what I realized, as I was sitting at breakfast... Most of my defining moments in life are all good, and while there are so many good moments that stick out in my mind, it is the bad moments, the disasters in life that not only fight for the attention of your mind, but also bring with them other bad moments.

Here we are 6 years later after a terrorist attack on US Soil, and not only are the images still being played over and over... but the focus in the news all morning, was about bin-laden...

I MUST Ask this...

What has happened that has been positive, and good in the last 6 years? anything? I know that for me there have been some wonderful moments... what about you?